Bad housing idea

While I believe I correctly understand the reasoning behind the idea of Belleville keeping track of who is living in a house, this is really a stupid idea and it’s probably unconstitutional under the rights of privacy and freedom of assembly. It’s also totally unenforceable unless the city stakes out a property and conducts real surveillance or relies on nosy neighbors to report that there are too many people in a house. I hope it gets buried quickly.

Code is out of line

No matter how Belleville Mayor Mayor Eckert and housing director Bob Sabo try to justify it, there is something inherently wrong about the city’s occupancy codes. Whether you rent or own, your housing and its occupants should be your own business and free from government harassment. This invasion of privacy, along with a mayor with his bobbleheaded aldermen coming up with a new tax or fee every year, makes this city a poster child for fascism. Is this the German heritage they are looking for? Belleville citizens have a choice in the next election but will they step away long enough from the golden keg to make the right one?

Standards crumble

Government used to recognize marriage as between a man and a woman and allowed certain benefits because children were expected to be born and reared by a mother and father and to then become contributing members of society. Fast forward to the Great Society where all expressions of marriage and family are equal or subsidized and demand respect. So many people object to living by God’s rules and then wonder why society is self-destructing.

Bail out the taxpayers

How about another bailout? The American taxpayer has spent billions of dollars assisting Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Citi-Group and auto companies that are still paying huge salaries and bonuses to their execs. Companies were given aid because of financial problems, mostly due to mismanagement and greed. Now Social Security is in trouble. These payments went into the general fund, not a separate fund for its intended purpose. This same fund was used to support a war in Vietnam and now wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If Social Security is in financial trouble, why not give it a bailout to be financed by the same people who have been bailed out — the ones still getting the huge salaries and bonuses? I wonder what the Social Security piggy bank would be worth if it had been kept separately in an interestbearing account?

Violence isn’t a game

Am I the only one in the metro-east who believes that those violent video games are the spinning wheel of all the violence in America? I know this to be true because I was addicted to them at one time. The games teach that hardwired brain reactions do not make a difference between the video games and real-life. This is totally wrong. Players do get stressed and have adrenaline rushes. The digestive system shuts down. It’s the same as in a real-life stress situation and the player can go without eating for long periods. After quitting them, I can now see the poor choices I made and how being use to the violence in the games affected that. Get away from those violent games and get a life. I did.

Salaries out of line

I read about all the highpriced salaries that the teachers in the Cahokia School District make. After paying out all these salaries plus those paid to the East St. Louis teachers, no wonder St. Clair County can’t get ahead. Surely the kids should be getting better grades than they evidently are. This really upsets me.

Can’t count on police

The list of police officers and former police officers in the metro-east who have run afoul of the law continues to grow. And these are only the ones who have been caught or found out. Nice to think these are the type of individuals who are suppose to be protecting us. What a joke.

Upset by letters

Concerning the recent letters from members of the religious right: I think it is absolutely pathetic that these people would use the recent massacre of 26 people in Connecticut as a platform to further their agenda. Those people have suffered enough, let them be in peace. The writers should be ashamed.

Questions for trustee

I take my hat off to Freeburg Village Board member Seth Spicer. According to the Freeburg Tribune, Spicer questioned the conduct of some of the local police based on his concern for the safety of Freeburg residents. Spicer didn’t see any reason to bring action against two long-time officers. Thank goodness the board prevailed and the officers were removed. It seems (according to the Freeburg Tribune) that there was a leak of confidential information coming from within the Freeburg board. Spicer didn’t feel the board needed to waste the village’s money investigating this leak. Is Spicer really concerned about our safety, or does he have an agenda of his own?

God called too late

Why would letter writer Jim Walters need to know the answer to his question about where the allknowing source was during the Connecticut massacre? Is it a mystery to him? God was there. But the ACLU and people like Walters have decided that prayer is something not needed in classrooms, or anyplace else for that matter. The children and teachers did start to pray after the shooter arrived; but it was too late then for God to approach Adam and stop him from committing such a terrible crime.

No prayer in past

The Sound-off about bringing prayer back into our schools puzzled me. I’m in my 80s and there were never any prayers in the public schools I attended.

Blame to go around

So Sen. Harry Reid says it looks like we’re going over the fiscal cliff, and it’s all House Speaker John Boehner's fault. Well, I think it is fair to say that we, the people, do not care to hear anymore blame being thrown around, it’s all of their fault. That includes President Obama; so sorry he had to cut his annual Hawaiian vacation short. No doubt he will more than make up for that with four more years of accomplishing nothing.

Mixed-up priorities

Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert wants to build a new City Hall and jail and yet he says we can’t afford the chemicals needed at the sewer plant so it doesn’t stink on Illinois 15. He needs to get his priorities straight.

Guns needed in school

This country has changed and not for the better. Although I do make this statement with reservation, I would hope the powers that be on the local school boards allow the students and teachers to have some protection, which means guns.

Crime despite Justus

Gov. Pat Quinn commended the late St. Clair County Sheriff Mearl Justus for keeping the county safe from crime. Justus did his best but there are just too many bad guys in St. Clair County to make it crime-free.

This isn’t motivation

Coach Clayton Fisher commented about the Belleville West’s basketball team playing the worst game he’s seen in six years and that they stunk up the gym. I have watched Fisher coach for the past six years and year in and year out, he gets outcoached by other area coaches who understand adjustments and motivation of girls. Berating, belittling and talking negatively to and about your players does nothing but make them feel inferior, but Fisher has done a real good job of that.

Leading on finances

I would like to congratulate Terry Wilson for making the cuts to Collinsville Area Recreation District position. If people in city, county, schools and state positions had his outlook for reducing spending, our taxes would not be jeopardy. Thanks to Wilson.

Pensions in trouble

Someone recently said the pension funds are an unsolvable problem. This is true. My small company (60 to 70 employees) paid its contracted pensions to the union every year for 45 years, always on time, never late. Our unfunded liability is $5 million. Unsolvable, indeed.

Pandering for votes

Well, the politicians amaze us again with how brilliant they are. State lawmakers are trying to pass legislation that will give all illegal aliens a driver’s license. Do they really think an illegal Aalien is going to come forward and give a total description of himself including his address? I think not. The politicians are only after the Hispanic vote. And besides, if an illegal alien did get a driver's license, it is almost a given that he would be driving without insurance.

No worries for Stone

Normally, life does not offer any guarantees. But I can guarantee that absolutely nothing will happen to Rick Stone, St. Clair County coroner and one of the good ol’ boys. So will Brendan Kelly, St. Clair County state’s attorney and a younger member of the good ol’ boys’ club, please stop his fake concern and at least be honest that he has no intention of doing anything.

Still won’t be insured

I’ve read about politicians supporting licensing of illegal immigrants and one statement was about the ability to buy auto insurance. Most standard insurance companies won’t take the application due to the person not having previous driving experience. Substandard rates are higher than standard rates obviously. Most of the people in this situation buy a policy to receive an insurance card and then don’t make anymore payments. I know because I’ve been a licensed agent for 32 years.

No deterrent to crime

Does anyone really think that more gun control laws are the answer? Firearm education and gun safety beginning at a young age would be something to consider, and make background checks a little more detailed to include checks into one’s emotional and mental behavior. The only people who are going to be affected by these laws are the law-abiding citizens who already practice firearm safety. Is the criminal element going to abide by the laws? My view is the real problem with the violence that we have in this country is the violence in TV programs, movies and especially the video games that our young are exposed to. Do we hear anything in the news media condemning them? No, because we are talking about a multibillion dollar industry that the media doesn’t want to step on. Change this and the violence will diminish greatly.

Too much choice?

Can there be too much competition? The threeway mayoral race in Belleville is going to ensure the re-election of incumbent Mayor Mark Eckert. Challengers Phil Elmore and Joe Hayden will split the votes of people unhappy with the status quo. It’s a shame that Elmore and Hayden can’t see they are canceling each other out.

Keep barges going

Well, shipping on the Mississippi River is days away from coming to a standstill. The Army Corps of Engineers’ half-hearted efforts have not been enough. The Corps can still do what everyone has been urging it to do to: Release more water from the Missouri River. But I think the Corps would rather let shipping shut down than back down on its opposition to that plan.

Swamped by debt?

It’s great that the Casino Queen employees are now the owners of the casino. But that $31 million in debt that they got along with the deed makes me fearful that this boat is about to sink.